Things are different
by green493
Summary: His past has come back to ruin his life. Can Draco protect what's left of his family? R&R First time writing...
1. New Beginnings

**DISCLAIMER: harry potter belongs to JK Rowling**

**This is my first fanfic, I enjoy reading a lot of the stories posted on the website so I just thought I would give it a go.**

_The normally quiet manor was filled with an obscene amount of noise. The last thing he saw was his dad's wide eyes and a white glowing panther shooting out of his wand. Then all went dark…._

It had been years since the final battle. The ministry had pardoned him as he was too young to go to Azkaban. Lucius however, was thrown back into Azkaban. Two years later, Narcissa had suffered a nervous breakdown and now resides in St Mungo's Mental Illness Unit. After the dark arts had so mercilessly ripped his family apart Draco vowed never to be involved in it again.

He chose to use his skills in potions and DADA, and studied to become one of the best healers of the Wizarding World. It took several years to achieve his goal, but in the end it was worth it.

He remembered quite vividly in his very depressing 6th year at Hogwarts, Snape asking him what he wanted to be in the future. Up until that point in his life he had not really thought about it. There was a time he wanted to be a professional quidditch player, but that phase was quickly short lived. To him Snape's question seemed rather absurd. He knew what his mission was, he knew what he had to do and he especially knew the consequences if he failed. But it was his godfather that gave him hope that there was another way to life. He pointed out Draco's strong subjects and suggested a Healer. "Listen to me Draco. You are a clever boy. You don't have to do the Dark Lord's biddings. You can still get out of this. Death Eaters have no future." His last remark caused him to look up at him. He could see the concern in his eyes, the sincerity.

Seven years after the war. Life was going well for Draco, he has finally had the guts to propose to his long time girlfriend Astoria Greengrass and a year later they had welcomed a new member to the family. He had never been so happy in his entire life. He vowed to protect his family at all costs. Although the Malfoy name was now very notorious and even though some patients refused to see Draco because of his dark past he couldn't care less. His wife loved him no matter who he was.

Life carried on, and all that had happened to him as a boy was now a fading nightmare.

**Thinking of making this a long story. We shall see...**


	2. Uncalled for

Draco had arrived home late from work, where his wife sat in the living room quietly reading a book, whilst nursing a cup of coffee. She had not noticed him enter, so he took the time to silently admire her. Although he did not often say it, as it just wasn't the Malfoy way, he truly did love her with all his heart. She was a beautiful woman with a pure heart. He was grateful that she was able to just ignore his past and accept him for who he was now. He sat down tiredly next to her and put his arm around her. She smiled to herself and made herself comfortable on his shoulder, intertwining her fingers with his. This was their usual nightly ritual. Her dark hair fell gracefully across his chest.

"How was work, dear?"

"The usual, nothing too drastic today. How was the ministry, I'm sure that batty minister did nothing as usual?" He smirked.

"Draco" she admonished in a low aristocratic voice. She slapped his thigh playfully. "Don't be rude."

They say quietly for a few minutes, enjoying the comfortable silence.

"Listen Draco, we need to speak with Scor. The Hogwarts letter will be coming in a few months time and you need to explain to him that he may be treated a little…. differently."

"Yes, ok" he nodded quietly. "If he's not a Slytherin, I'll disown him" with the look his wife gave him he hastily said, "I'm just joking love, he can go anywhere he wants to…..as long as he's not a Gryffie" He quickly received another light punch.

"Honestly Draco, that's not the slightest bit funny."

They carried on for a few hours talking amiably and laughing when suddenly a loud popping sound was heard. The room suddenly felt very cold. Astoria quickly sat up and gripped her husbands arm painfully.

"What was that?" she cried in panic.

"Not sure….I'll be right ba-"

He was not able to finish as both he and his wife felt a force push them against the wall. Draco quickly recovered and proceeded to help his wife stand.

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS! Who in Merlin's name is there?" he all but screamed.

Two hooded figures entered the lounge. One let their hood fall off their head revealing a face Draco never thought he'd see again. His normally composed face terrified. Astoria had never seen him scared, her only thoughts on her son, who was alone, in his room sound asleep.

"Draco is that…?"


	3. Familiar Faces

"Well isn't this a marvelous sight" Lucius' face turned into a cruel sneer as he surveyed his grown son.

"Aren't you going to introduce me to your wife, son?"

Having been momentarily shocked silent, Draco quickly stepped protectively in front of Astoria and pulled out his wand.

"What the hell do you want, Lucius?" he demanded more calmly than he felt.

"Now, now Draconis, is that anyway to speak to your father after 19 years?" the other person cackled. It was none other than Bellatrix Lestrange.

Lucius grinned maliciously at Bellatrix. The years had not been kind to either of them. Lucius wore the face of a ragged and crazed man. His hair longer than ever, with an unkempt beard to match. His grey eyes shifted angrily from Draco to his wife. Bellatrix had clearly lost what little sanity she had left, as she skipped around twirling her wand delicately, ranting and raving about the injustice of it all. Draco shivered internally, no matter how old he was he still got the same impression from his aunt, she was pure evil. How many times had she made him watch as she tortured some helpless soul into oblivion?

From behind him Astoria squeezed his hand tightly, Draco understood and squeezed back then let go slowly.

"How did you escape?" Draco implored heatedly. He was desperately trying to distract both Death Eaters whilst Astoria discretely left to go protect Scorpius.

"That is none of your concern, what matters is that we are here now and you will pay for your betrayal." Lucius said coldly.

"What do you expect Lucius, that boy always was a blubbering fool. It's entirely his fault that we were captured. You are the one that drove your mother to insanity, you ungrateful bastard!" she screeched while skillfully directing an unforgivable in his direction. Draco was unprepared, we screwed his eyes shut readying his body for the oncoming pain. However, when a few minutes later nothing happened, he snapped his eyes open. Astoria was currently battling Bellatrix, having abandoned her mission to save her husband. Both witches wore looks of pure hatred and whipped their wands ferociously.

"You will not hurt my family you bint!" Astoria screamed.

He went to go help his wife but was quickly stopped by none other than Lucius.

"Not so fast boy. I've got a bone to pick with you."

As hexes flew back and forth, a young boy crept shakily down the steps, terrified of what was going on. Upon entering the hallway he saw his parents fighting two strangers in the living room. But there was another presence in the manor. Scorpius felt very cold and wrapped his arms around himself. Unnoticed by his parents a ghostly presence glided towards him, and he began to feel weaker and weaker…

"You were always a disappointment growing up. You don't even deserve the family name." screamed Lucius throwing a particularly powerful curse. The spell hit its mark, slicing his son's side.

"Well father" he spat the word painfully, "I'm sorry I couldn't live up to your preposterous expectations, as for the Malfoy name, I never asked to be your son." He sent a stunning spell, and Lucius fell unconscious. He smiled triumphantly, but quickly swiveled round at a terrified scream. A dementor flooded the room, making the room cold and gloomy. Bellatrix cackled loudly.

"Aaaah here they are my lovelies, you are going to meet your doom!"

"You mad woman, you can't control them. No one can!" Astoria screeched outraged.

Bellatrix quickly realized that nothing was going as planned. A dementor swooped towards her and began sucking her life force.

"Draco! Let's get Scorpius and get out of here now!"

Draco quickly walked towards her. He was confused when her face turned to one of horror. He was even more bewildered when she pushed him forcefully aside.

He fell to the ground winded. As he turned his head he saw the love of his life, the mother of his child, fall lifeless to the floor as a green jet of light hit her straight in the chest.


	4. Goodbye Love

Draco just couldn't believe it. His eyes must be deceiving him. Any minute now he would wake up and realize that this was all just some horrible dream. Nay it must just be some strong powerful boggart showing him his worst fear, because there was just absolutely no way that his worst nightmare had just become a reality. His heart skipped a beat as he scrambled towards her. He could feel his chest constricting painfully. He wasn't even aware that he had been holding his breath. This just can't be happening he thought, but the sightless eyes told him otherwise. The realization hit him like a stack of bricks falling from a 20 foot building.

"NOOO! Astoria! Astoria! Wake up please! Astoria! My love, please don't leave me. Wake up!" He shook her roughly as her pale blue eyes stared emptily at him. He gripped her shoulders tightly and pulled her closer to his chest, cradling her carefully. His body trembled with anguish and he buried his face in her hair. His eyes were blurred with tears as he sobbed in despair. He bent down and whispered to her. "I love you…"

Lucius who had been momentarily confused at the turn of events laughed hysterically his mouth widening to a harsh grin. "It's your turn next or maybe the boy".

"You! Why? I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" He stood up abruptly and screamed maniacally sending random spells at Lucius not stopping until he realized that his father was no longer there. He had apparated away just like the coward he was. Draco turned round desperately he was remotely aware of the dementor still present. He gasped as he saw Scorpio's prone body lying under one in the hallway. He refused to let anyone else he loves die tonight. Gathering his wits, he brandished his wand at the dementor.

"Expecto Patronus!"

As the dementors fled, he took one last look at his dead wife, and kissed her blue tinged lips softly. He carefully tucked a stray hair behind her ear and shut her eyes. She looked so peaceful in death. He shook the overwhelming cascade of emotions and limped hurriedly towards his injured son. The boy's chest rose slowly but at least he was alive and breathing. Draco tried thinking rationally. This was not the time to break down. He had to get him somewhere safe and there was only one place he could think of. He wiped the hot tears spilling down his face and picked his son up carefully and apparated on the spot. The house was eerily quiet once more and two bodies lay across from each other. One a young life forcefully taken away too soon and the other, a tarnished and damaged soul finally at peace.

**Not that long but will be updating soon... please R&R. I'm a new writer and I'm just giving writing a go. I've had plenty Hp stories stuck in my head for a while so I just thought I'd write one of them down. I always liked Draco's character even though I was slightly disappointed with how JK portrayed his character in the end. Anyway I am open to constructive critisism, but please take it easy:P Thank you to those who have reviewed already.**


	5. Asylum1

The Weasley family was visiting the Potters this summer. Harry, Ginny, Hermione and Ron were sitting laughing and chatting away idly while their children played upstairs. A tapping signaled the arrival of The Daily Prophet, Hermione got up to let an owl swoop in and drop the paper at the table. She glanced at the front page and her face paled at the title.

"What's wrong 'Mione?" Harry asked when he saw her strange behaviour, her eyes were wide open in shock.

"I can't believe this. It's the Malfoys, there was an attack."

"Ha, who did that ferret do now?" Ron said snorting.

"Shut up and listen to this Ronald."

_Last night, Malfoy Manor was attacked. The crime scene is gruesome. Found were the dead bodies of Azkaban escapee and former Death Eater, Bellatrix Lestrange, cause of death dementors kiss and Astoria Malfoy cause of death unforgivable curse. Another attacker is believed to have been present, but this person remains unidentified. The whereabouts of Draco Malfoy and son Scorpius Malfoy is currently unknown. St Mungo's hospital where Mr. Malfoy works, states that they have not seen him since the previous day after he left to go home…._

Hermione stopped reading. She was starting to feel sick to her stomach. She sat down rather ungraciously.

"What a poor man."

Ron looked at her as if she had lost her mind.

"Ronald he lost his wife, ok! He never gets a break." Ron shut up immediately and had the decency to look ashamed.

Ginny was rather upset by the news, she had never been involved in the Trio's shenanigans so Malfoy had never personally bothered her. She was sad for the little boy the same age as her Al, he had lost his mother. Harry remained rather grim and quiet. Ever since the war he could see that Malfoy had truly changed. That wasn't to say they were friends and he certainly did not trust him, but they had put their past behind them and each were happy to be alive. The last time he had seen Malfoy was when he had to take James to St Mungo's after he had been hexed fighting with his older cousins. Malfoy had been civil and had treated James without any mishaps. He even went as far as being very kind to James who at the time had been a sobbing 6 year old. James had taken an immediate liking to Malfoy and that was enough for Harry.

_Flahback_

_"James, you're going to be just fine. Now stop crying before you give your poor daddy an aneurism."_

_James had stopped crying immediately and Harry heaved a sigh of relief. Draco took a small handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the boys face until his nose turned red._

_"There, all better."_

_Harry looked at the ex-Slytherin in confusion. Who knew he had a heart?_

_"James what do you say."_

_The now beaming toddler__ launched himself at the blond man._

_"Thank you so much Healer Malfoy, it was entirely that stupid Teddy's fault." he babbled._

_Before they left Harry shook Draco's hand thanking him profusely. Draco simply shrugged._

_"Its quite alright, I have a son myself and he always seems to be getting himself into trouble. I know how they can be."_

Harry was shaken out of his memories by a thunderous rapping at the door.

"I'll get it" Rose shouted as she ran to open the door.

"Daaad!" she screamed.

Ron shot up alarmed with the other three following close behind dim. They all gasped at the man in front of them. Draco Malfoy stood leaning against the door frame, his pale face a mirage of cuts and bruises, and there was blood seeping from his side. In his arms was a young 10 year old boy, his face a deathly shade of grey. Draco's normally well groomed hair cascaded messily down his face. His robes were shredded and covered in dirt and grime.

"Weasley, Potter….are you just going to gawk at me or may I come in?" his voice was calm and even, but his sunken eyes with dark shadows betrayed all his emotions.

Ginny was the first to recover from the shock, she quickly ushered him in, whilst telling Rose to stay upstairs. They all walked to the sitting room and Malfoy stood awkwardly in the middle of the room holding Scorpius tighter. Hermione gestured to the unoccupied sofa in the corner, and he carefully took a seat.

"We're sorry about your wife Malfoy." Hermione said sadly.

"I didn't come here for your pity." He spat, he was quiet for a moment. "I-I need your help."

"What can we do?" Harry said, he felt very sorry for the shadow of the man before him cradling his son protectively.

"I need you to protect him." He mumbled in defeat. "I wouldn't have come here, but I don't have a choice. I can't protect him I'd only be putting him in danger."

Ron frowned suspiciously, "How do we know, you won't just hex us in our sleep?"

"Listen Weasley, I honestly don't care what you think of me or what you think I'm going to do. I don't need you to trust me." Draco said heatedly. "I have no one to turn to and I'm only here for him, maybe you can understand that."

Surprisingly Ron was quick to answer.

"Sorry, it's just you know, the war…." He took a glance at the kid, "I get it, don't worry about it Malfoy, you can stay with us as long as you need to."

Draco looked up at Ron warily but then gave a curt grateful nod.

"Malfoy, we need to take a look at your wounds you're still bleeding. Then you have to tell us what happened." Ginny said gently. Draco just nodded once more.

"Come on...Draco, let me show you where you can put…." "Scorpius" "yes Scorpius, you'll both be sleeping here, until I can find more suitable arrangements. Hermione will be up shortly to treat you."

As Ginny climbed down the stairs, she found the Trio sitting quietly waiting for her. She stopped by her brother and gave him a quick hug.

"You did the right thing Ron."

"This is so sad, did you see his son, he's barely breathing, and I wonder what happened to him, do you think he was cursed?" Hermione demanded. She was clearly horrified. She quickly gathered all the first aide kit supplies in the Potters cabinet and made her way upstairs.

She found Malfoy sitting on a chair across from the bed where his son lay. His eyes never leaving his face.

"Mal-Draco could you please take your shirt, so I can take a look." He obeyed quietly. He said nothing as she gasped at the damage done. Quickly she applied some balms and pastes to the scratches on his back and chest. Once she was satisfied with that she stared at the gash on his side that was still bleeding heavily.

"Vulnos proxime" he said breaking the silence. She nodded her head and muttered the spell, watching in amazement as the wound seemingly sealed itself. She applied a few drops of dittany just incase and proceeded to wrap his chest. He then put his shirt back on and resumed staring at Scorpius. "Is there anything I can do for your son?" He shook his head. "I've already done what I can for him. He just needs to rest. I doubt he'll wake up for a while." Hermione nodded and beckoned him to follow her down where the others were waiting.

They all sat down on the couches and faced Draco. Ginny handed him a mug of tea, which he gratefully took, wrapping his long cold fingers around it. He sighed tiredly and gestured towards the discarded new paper.

"Well I suppose you already have a basic idea of what happened. They were both Death Eaters. The other attacker was Lucius, he killed my wife." His voice cracked at the last part. "She was trying to protect me. Lucius was aiming for me not her." His eyes stared aimlessly as if reliving the nightmare. He paused for a moment, leaving an awkward silence. Tears were falling down both women's faces as they saw the anguish he was in.

"They brought dementors to my home you know." He said suddenly looking up at them and scoffed mirthlessly. "Bellatrix got the dementors kiss, Scorpius nearly did too, but I got there in time…. he won't wake up." He said worriedly to himself.

"Don't worry Malfoy, you got here in time, I'm sure he'll wake up in no time." Harry responded, seeing the desperate look in his former rival.

"After Astoria….we've been running since the attack. Lucius wants me dead, he's completely lost his mind. Anyways, I knew he would never look here. I'll be out of your hair as soon as Scorpius is awake. I just need a place to let him recover."

"Nonsense Malfoy, you'll stay here until everything is cleared up." Harry said adamantly. "You're not imposing. I mean we are staying the whole summer at Harry's, so the more the merrier." Ron added.

Harry nodded in agreement. "Stay"

"Thank you" he mumbled uneasily. He then excused himself and went to sleep next to his son in a restless slumber.

The adults sat down quietly absorbing what Draco had said. They couldn't believe that Lucius would do that to his own son. " Astoria's funeral is in a week." Ron muttered as he read the announcement at the bottom of the article.

"She was a Slytherin in the year below me, her name was Greengrass then. She never really caused any trouble. The quiet type you know. I worked in the ministry with her. She was quite high up in the ranks, she took Umbridge's job, that's why things have been at peace lately…" Ginny said as she snuggled against Harry, terrified of losing him like Malfoy had lost his wife. They sat discussing what to do for a few more hours. Ron got up and decided to explain the situation to the kids. They needed to keep quiet about this. If anyone found out the Malfoys were here and the news reached Lucius the consequences could be fatal.


	6. Asylum2

Draco rarely left his room, preferring to keep to himself and Scorpius had yet to wake up. The kids avoided the guest room for fear of their mothers' wrath who had forbidden them from disturbing their guests. The third morning Draco woke up, feeling like his heart was split in half. He couldn't go on like this. He glanced miserably at his still son and noted a little colour returning to the child's face. He smiled inwardly, his son was strong, and he would pull through.

Slowly he got up from his bed and made his way down. He found a pair of green eyes staring at him and a mop of curly reddish brown hair. James he remembered. "Good morning James." He stated simply to avoid an uncomfortable silence.

"'Morning Healer Malfoy. I'm sorry about your wife." He said sheepishly.

"It's alright James, you can call me Mr. Malfoy or even Draco if you like. Let's go have some breakfast shall we."

At that James smiled widely and led Draco to the kitchen, pulling him to the breakfast table. Draco wished his son would wake up soon. They sat talking good-naturedly, whilst Draco asked him about school.

"Oh I hate History of Magic, I always fall asleep, I mean how can Mr. Binns be the professor, he's a ghost! Mark and I want to complain to Professor McGonagall. Oh Mark's my friend he's in Hufflepuff…" James chatted happily. Draco was only half listening but responded every now and then. He needed something to take his mind off things. He chuckled inwardly, he too had tried complaining to Snape, who simply shooed him away. He certainly hoped James had better luck than he did.

Soon Harry and Ginny came down and greeted their son and Malfoy. They were happy to see him out of the room. Soon the whole family was down and Draco was getting to know each kid. From what he could tell Rose was exactly like Granger as Albus was very much like Potter. The youngest two, Lilly and Hugo had yet to fully approach him, but he did not mind. He ate quietly with the family as the kids talked loudly amongst themselves. The Potter boys had started arguing about something when Draco started to zone out.

"But I want the last one, James I had it first you saw me. Mum James took my bacon!"

"You're such a baby, what on earth you whining to mum about."

"Dad?" a weak voice called out. Draco's head shot up over the loud ruckus as he saw his son slowly climb down the stairs.

"Scorpius" he yelled cheerfully. The boys stopped arguing when they each received a sharp tap from Ginny. They watched as Draco scrambled out of his chair, his face more lively than they had seen it in a long time. He ran to his son and hugged him tightly.

"Dad, I don't feel so good. I'm dizzy."

Harry came up behind Draco and offered the young boy a chocolate bar. "I think this will help."

Scorpius looked around only now realizing he wasn't home, he mumbled his thanks to the strange man and ate his chocolate. His father's worried face came into view.

"Where are we Dad?"

"Kids why don't we all go to the living room." Ron suggested, knowing Malfoy needed time to explain things.

After the whole clan had left, Hermione closed the door to give them some privacy, Scorpius questioned his father again.

"Where is mum?"

Draco avoided the question. "What do you remember Scor?"

Scorpius recounted everything he saw from that night "The last thing I saw was a white glowing panther shooting out of your wand." Scopius looked at his surroundings again, clearly confused.

"Dad where's mum? Why are we here?"

Draco put his arm on Scorpius' back rubbing comforting circles. This scared Scorpius as his dad wasn't usually one to show much outward affection. "Scor…three nights ago we were attacked by two death eaters and what you saw were dementors. Your mother and I fought very hard. One of the death eaters were killed by a dementor. The other-….I'm sorry Scorpius, your mother was killed." Draco stopped talking abruptly knowing there was no point in explaining anything more. Scorpius looked at his father his eyes wide with complete disbelief. He shook his head furiously in denial his eyes flooded with tears. He slowly turned to his father and sobbed noisily into his shirt. Draco let his own tears flow for his lost wife and his son's sorrow. He picked his son up and carried him to their room. The boy was heavy but he didn't care at the moment. They sat on the bed for a while until Scorpius cried himself to sleep.


	7. Funeral

The Malfoys were once again quiet for the next two days. Ginny brought some food up for them and the occasional chocolate for Scorpius. Draco came down every so often and listened to the chatter of the adults. He enjoyed watching the kids play quidditch reminding him of his lost childhood. The day of Astoria's funeral, Draco declared that he would be taking Scorpius with him, claiming that he needed closure. Scorpius had yet to talk since he had woken up and he refused to approach anyone but his dad. He had disguised both himself and Scorpius by adding charms here and there so that they now had short black hair, a tanned complexion, and Draco wore a pair of old glasses. If anybody were to ask they were distantly related to the Zabini family. He insisted that the others need not come and that they would be back shortly.

The funeral was hosted by the Greengrass family. He greeted Mrs. Greengrass who was weeping openly, and tried not to meet her in the eye. She looked so much like her daughter. At the end of the funeral as people began to leave. They stayed back, he allowed Scorpius to place a bouquet of white lilies at her tombstone. "I know they are your favorite mum. I wish you were here with us, I wish you didn't have to die. I miss you so much. I love you." Draco squeezed his sons arm encouragingly. Silent tears streamed down his face and he walked back to the chairs to give his father some privacy.

"My love, I'm so sorry that I did not protect you. You should be here with us, it's my fault that you involved in this mess. Do not worry, I will protect our son no matter what. You did not die in vain. I will not let anything happen to him. You changed me for the better. You showed me a different path, the right path and for that I will always love you."

With that Draco Malfoy walked with a new purpose. "Come Scorpius we need to make one last stop."

Malfoy Manor was quieter than it had ever been. Scorpius gasped as he observed the damage for the first time.

"Master Malfoy, Master Scorpius! You are alright! Peppy has been so worried." a tiny elf squeaked her big eyes brimming with tears of relief.

"Hello Peppy, I need you to gather a few necessities for myself and Scorpius quickly, please. We won't be staying here for a while." The elf nodded "Of course." and disappeared. Draco went to his bedroom and picked up the one thing he really wanted. It was a photo of Astoria smiling and waving whilst carrying a smiling 3 year old Scorpius beside her, Draco stood proudly with one arm wrapped around his beautiful family. He used his wand to make two copies of the photo. He quietly handed one of the photos to Scorpius who was sitting on the bed until now and pocketed the other. He then handed Scorpius a small locket with the Slytherin crest. "This belonged to your mother, it's been in her family for centuries. She wore it everyday and I know she would have wanted you to have it." He slowly put the chain around his son's neck and opened it. "This is a picture of your aunt Daphne, your mother loved her very much, and they were as close as two sisters can be. She died during the war." Draco shrank the family photo and placed it on the other side of the locket. "There, now she will always be with you." Scorpius looked at his dad sadly.

"I wish she was here with us now"

"I know Scor, I know."

After a few moments of silence, Draco decided it was time Scorpius knew the truth.

"Scor, I want you to listen to me very carefully. Some very bad people attacked our family that night. They were Death Eaters. When I was a young boy I made some very bad decisions. Choices that I wish I could take back. I was forced to join Voldemort."

Scorpius said nothing allowing his father to continue. He knew what his father was talking about, the faded tattoo on his left arm.

"Ever since the war ended, the Malfoy name has been feared. People do not believe that I defected. It was too little too late anyway. My father disowned me right before he went to Azkaban. But that's not the point…." Draco wasn't sure how to continue, he had planned to discuss this with his wife by his side. She had this certain knack to calm everyone and release any tension.

"Anyway Scor, what I'm getting at is, because of my mistakes and because of your name, you might be treated a little….differently at Hogwarts. Our family is tolerated yes, but I don't want you to be too surprised if you are not easily accepted. I want you to let me know if you get any trouble there. You understand? Anything at all and you owl me straight away. I want you to be strong, remember how your mother and I raised you, and make her proud."

Scorpius caught his father in the eyes and was shocked to see the raw emotion behind them. He nodded slowly.

They left soon after and walked the rest of the way back to the Potter's home.

It was getting quite late, and they had all started to worry. What if they had been attacked again? They sat anxiously waiting. Harry mused to himself how he would have reacted if someone had told him while at school that he would be worried about a Malfoy let alone two. Draco entered the house surprised to see them waiting for him. He ushered Scorpius forward and decided it was time Scorpius started talking.

"Alright Scorpius, these are the people that were kind enough to let us stay in their home. This here is Harry Potter and his wife Ginny Potter." Scorpius smiled ever so politely and shook both their hands boldly. His eyes slowly lingered up to the famous scar. "These two are Ronald Weasley and Hermione Weasley." He shook their hands too. He stared at Ginny and said "My mother spoke of you once, she said you were really good to work with." He blushed shyly as he said it. "Your mother was a wonderful witch too." Scorpius stared at her and mumbled a thank you.

"Well come on then Scorpio, can I call you that, let me introduce you to all the kids, I'm sure you will all be fast friends." Ron said as Harry followed him.

Draco snorted at this as he mildly thought about the possibility of Weasleys and Malfoys as friends.

"You raised him well, Draco. He's such a good boy." Hermione beamed.

Draco smiled proudly, "yes that was mostly Astoria's influence. He's a lot like her, intelligent, caring, calm, and damn well stubborn."


	8. Quidditch fun and Birthday surprises

The weeks passed and summer was in full swing. Scorpius had mixed in very well with the other kids and he seemed to be returning back to his old self slowly. Although, Draco knew he would never be completely the same again. He was amused to see that, his son was becoming very close with the Weasley girl, Rose and Albus. The next golden trio Harry had joked. Scorpius also seemed to find Ron positively hilarious. He thought the Weasleys were the best family he had ever met. His father had laughed loudly when he had said that, muttering something about ancestors turning over in their graves. Draco was very grateful when he found that both women had taken over a motherly role with Scorpius, treating him like they did their own.

The day before Scorpius' birthday, the kids decided they would play a quidditch match.

"Alright Weasleys against Potters, sound good? Rose you can have Scorpius since there are only two of you." James said.

"That's fine by me."

"James that isn't fair, you're already the Gryffindor keeper. Your team has an unfair advantage."Rose complained.

"She does have a point James, you should play another position."Albus said. "It's only fair."

"Alright, alright! Afraid you'll lose or something?"

"Not with me on their team." Scorpius boasted confidently.

"We'll see about that." With that sorted James kicked off into the air.

James played chaser, he chose Lilly as his keeper and Albus played seeker, after they had spent a good 10 minutes arguing about who would play what. Scorpius was chosen by Rose to play seeker while she played chaser and Hugo played keeper. They didn't have enough players, but they had fun none the less. So far Albus' team was winning, since James was an excellent chaser and poor Hugo could do nothing but try to stay on his broom. Scorpius kept his eyes open looking for the snitch. He would hate to disappoint his team. He glanced down at his father having a heated discussion with Mr. Weasley and Mr. Potter.

He felt something flutter past him and realized the snitch was just a few feet below Al. He dived in his rush to get it and saw Al doing the same. He could vaguely hear Rose cheering his name and he tactfully swerved. He stretched out his arm trying to grab the snitch and saw Al next to him doing the same. Suddenly the snitch changed direction, Al was too late to turn but Scorpious turned at the right moment and felt the soft wings fluttering against his palm. He sneered triumphantly in a very Malfoyish manner. His teammates cheered loudly.

"We won! Finally!" Rose screamed cheerfully in James' face.

He laughed and was about to descend when he saw the youngest Weasley boy lose control of his broom as he let go to clap his hands.

"Hugo!"

He zoomed past the startled faces and dove to grab the little boy, from a very painful fall. As soon as he grabbed the little boy, he had not anticipated the child's weight and he struggled to control his broom whilst holding on to the boy who was now screaming. His broom had started to roll over and he was only just managing to hold on. The broom gave a final wild jerk and they were both thrown off.

Draco stopped in mid sentence when he heard someone scream. He gasped watching in shock as he saw his son fall. Thankfully the boy had managed to decrease the distance between the broom and the ground.

"Hugo, oh my goodness!" Hermione scream behind him. He sprinted towards the two boys with the others following close behind. When he reached them he was relieved to see no blood. Scorpius groaned loudly and pushed the Weasley boy off him. "My head hurts." He complained dazedly. Draco laughed at his cranky son, he was ok. "Way to give me a heart attack Scorpius. You're ok, let's check on Hugo." He turned to see Hermione comforting the sobbing child. Ron clapped Scorpius on the back gratefully.

"I could check on him, if you don't mind." She wordlessly handed Hugo over to Draco.

"What's the verdict doc." Said a worried James behind him.

He smiled softly at Hugo, "can you tell me where it hurts the most."

"M-my arm," hiccupped the little boy.

"Oh Merlin, he's broken his arm," Hermione cried at Ron who patted her softly.

"Calm down 'Mione." Ron said.

"No, it's not that bad it's just a simple fracture, nothing I can't handle."

Draco waved his wand muttering a spell over the arm and conjured a sling. He then handed Hugo over to Ron and helped his own son stand.

"Scorpio you did wonderfully but that's enough fun for one day, all of you go to bed now." Ginny said sternly. The kids complained all the way back to the house.

"Dad, do you think that maybe I could sleep in Al's room from now on? He has a spare bed." Scorpius asked uncertainly.

"Of course, go ahead and good job son." He grinned as he saw his son run to his friends.

Ginny was heard screaming once again that night, the famous Weasley temper making its presence known. From what he could wake out Scorpius and Al had planted a stink bomb in one of the other kid's rooms. Draco laughed at his sons antics. He remembered a similar situation a few years ago when a younger Scorpius had hidden his mothers wand just before she was about to leave for work. Astoria had similarly nearly blown her head off, and Draco had to calm her down without bursting out laughing. Draco decided it was best to let Ginny handle the situation, he was never very good with scolding, that was more Astoria's department. Astoria had always said that he spoiled the boy too much. He couldn't help it, he just wanted Scorpius to have a better childhoon that he did.

The next day he awoke early due to the missing presence at his side. He miserably realized that he was going to have to get used to that. He was surprised to see the two women already awake in the kitchen.

"What are you two doing, at this ungodly hour. Why are you women always in the kitchen?" he teased.

"We're baking a cake for Scorpio's birthday, if that's alright with you." Ginny huffed crossly.

They were both pleasantly surprised when they each received a soft kiss on their cheek. Then as if nothing had happened he went about getting a cup of tea. As the women chatted whilst baking, Draco suddenly had a wonderful idea.

"I'll be back soon, I just have to pick something up."

"Alright, do you want me to help with the glamour charms."

"No, I'll manage myself Hermione."

The women thought nothing of it and continued getting ready for the festivities.

Scorpius thought this was the best birthday he had ever had. The kids had decided that he would be the center of attention today, so he got to choose the games they played. Unfortunately they had been banned from quidditch for a month by Mrs. Potter, due to their prank yesterday. Both women had made a delectable feast with cakes and snacks. If one looked closely they would find Hugo stuffing his face with pumpkin pie. Scorpius was a little worried about his father's absence but was currently distracted by a game of wizard chess against James. So far he had beaten everyone else, including Rose much to her dismay. He made quick work of defeating James "Bloody hell, Scorpio, way to keep a man down." James grumbled.

"You simply have to play against dad, none of us has ever beaten him, not even mum." Rose insisted. At this all the kids cheered enthusiastically. Scorpius found this was his most challenging game yet. The kids surrounded them as if they were watching the quidditch world cup. Finally Mr. Weasley said, "Check mate." Scorpius scowled disappointedly, but soon smiled as Mr. Weasley praised him on his skills.

"I almost thought I was going to lose to an 11 year old." He told Mr. Potter who laughed loudly.

Draco arrived to a room full of laughter. He spotted his son sitting next to the kids who were listening to James talking animatedly. It seemed he was talking about the ghosts who resided at Hogwarts. He put his present behind the counter and joined the festivities. Ginny opened the window as an old barn owl appeared outside. It flew straight to Scorpius. The kids all hushed up rather dramatically as Scorpius read his letter.

_HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY_

_Headmistress: Minerva McGonagall_

_Dear Mr Malfoy,_

_ We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwa\rts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment._

_ Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Professor Flitwick_

_Deputy Headmaster_

"Dad, I got my Hogwarts letter." He said running up to his father to show him. Draco smiled proudly at his son. "That's wonderful, now you can all go and get your supplies soon."

"Can we open the presents already." Lilly pouted. "I want to see what Scorpio got."

They all rushed to the table full of wrapped presents. Scorpius unwrapped a rather large one fist. He smiled at the book Hogwarts: a History from Mrs. Weasley, Mr. Weasley snorted rudely when he saw this.

"Honestly Hermione, not everybody wants to read that dreadful book."

Mrs. Weasley promptly ignored him and handed Draco the next parcel.

He got a beautiful chess set from Mr. Weasley. Mr. Potter gave him a new broom kit. "If you're as good as your father was, I'm sure you will find it useful." Mrs. Potter gave him a wonderfully warm jumper which it seems she had knitted herself.

"Now you have one like the rest of us." Al said. "It's a family tradition, which Gran started." Scorpius was very touched by all this. The kids' presents consisted of sweets and candies, and a set of exploding snap cards.

Draco cleared his throat and handed his son a caged owl. Scorpius gasped, it was one of the most beautiful owls he had ever seen. It was a silvery grey feathered owl perched proudly in its cage.

"You can call him whatever you like and now you have no excuse now to owl me once your there." Draco smiled knowingly.

"Thanks dad, I think I'll call him Elatus."

Draco nodded his approval and hugged his son.

"Dad can I have an owl too." Albus demanded from his dad.

"Yeah me too." Hugo cried out.

There was a chorus of demands from all the kids. Harry just looked frazzled, while Draco smirked mischievously.

"Albus, your sharing Petrew with James and Lilly dear what on earth do you need one for?"

"But daddy I want one of my own." She whined

"Well sweetie what if you share Atticus with me and daddy what do you say." Ginny said.

"Fine." She said unhappily.

Rose started complaining too and Ron just looked at a loss for what to do. Draco smirked and decided to defend him.

"Well Rose maybe, Scorpius will let you use his…"

Scorpius nodded his head enthusiastically. He never had any siblings to share with before, so he loved the idea. Ron gave Draco a very relieved, grateful look.

"Well that's settled then, everyone off to bed, we have to go to Diagon Alley early tomorrow to get all your supplies. Off to bed now!" Hermione cleared the room of the grumbling kids who stormed upstairs.

"I think I'll turn in too.'' Ron groaned sleepily and he followed his son.

The others laughed and started climbing the stairs. Right before they left to their respective bedrooms, Draco cleared his throat. "I just wanted to thank you all for everything you have done for him…and me. I'm eternally grateful."

"We were happy to do it Draco." Hermione said.

"Yeah, just think of it this way, you owe us one now. Stupid owls…" Ron muttered. Ginny slapped her brother good-naturedly.

"Yeah thanks anyway. Well good night then."


	9. Badmouthing Malfoys

The next day the goup made their way to Diagon Alley. Draco disguised Scorpius and himself once more. He was terrified that someone would spot them. He refused to let Scorpius go off alone with the other kids. The families separated into small groups purchasing what they needed respectively. Hermione told Draco that she would fetch Scorpius' books for him to save time and that they should all meet up at the Weasley joke shop in three hours. He nodded and handed her a handful of galleons. They stepped into Madam Malkins and Scorpio stood while he was measured. He was slightly irritated that his dad wouldn't leave him alone. Honestly, he was eleven now, he didn't need to treat him like a baby. He was just about to voice his thoughts when he heard a group of boys talking across the room,

"Yeah didn't you hear? They've been missing for nearly a month now. Goyle don't you ever read the paper?"

"I bet he killed his wife you know, wouldn't put it past that traitor. I don't even know why they allowed him to continue living out here. They should have shoved his ass back in Azkaban where he belongs."

"He's such a coward, fled from the Dark Lord he did."

"Are you serious?"

"Blimey Goyle, don't you know anything. He used to be friends with your dad for Merlin's sake.

Scorpius looked at his father in complete shock. Draco continued reading his magazine calmly as if nothing had happened. With each store they entered, Scorpius finally understood what it meant to be a Malfoy. He had never felt so hated and so disgusting in his whole life. Several shops had Wanted posters stuck on their walls with Draco's pale 16 year old face. He was wanted for questioning as a murder suspect. Their last stop was the wand shop. Mr. Ollivander's nephew now ran the shop and 15 wands later he finally found the right fit. He was glad when it was all over.

They found the others outside the Weasley joke shop.

"Did you find everything you needed dear. I've got your books right here." Hermione enquired. She frowned confused at the boy's sudden change in demeanor. He looked dazed. She gave Draco a questioning look but he simply sighed and shook his head.

"Come on mate, James is already inside. We have got to get stacked on goods. Don't worry Uncle George will give us a discount since we know you." Albus grabbed Scorpius into the store.

Two weeks later they were all back at Platform 9 3/4. Draco had taken off the disillusionment charm as soon as they crossed the barrier. There was no point in hiding here. His son had barely spoken to him since the incident at Diagon Alley. Once he had helped him load his trunk. He took him aside for a final goodbye. The boy was picking at his robes worriedly, a bad habit he had recently started.

"What's on your mind Scorpius?"

"Dad, would you be mad if I told you I don't think I want to be in Slytherin."

"I don't care what house you are in as long as you're happy." Draco watched the women hugging and crying as they said their goodbyes. Astoria should have been here, she should have seen this. She would have been so proud.

"Scor, I want to talk to you about what happened at the store. I don't want you to be ashamed of who you are. You come from a family of strong, proud and powerful wizards, never forget that. You're much braver than I ever was. Don't mind what people say about the family. Do not let your life be affected by blood or social status. Not like mine was, ok."

"Kay." The final whistle blew. "I wish she was here…" Scorpius whispered.

"Me too, she would have been so proud of you. Scor promise me you'll be careful. Promise me."

"Promise. Love you Dad." Scorpius hugged his father and ran to find his friends.

Draco watched sadly as the last remaining member of his family left. He caught Ginny's eye and put his facade back on and walked over to them.

"I wanted to thank you for all you've done. You have been very hospitable but, I'm going back to work. I won't hide anymore. Scorpius is safe at Hogwarts and that's all that matters."

"Alright just remember to come into the ministry tomorrow morning. We need to question you so that your name can be cleared. Meet me in my office 2pm." Harry said.

"Of course."

"Oh and Draco, you're welcome to come to our house any time for a visit." Ginny said.

Draco looked at her quizzically then nodded curtly and left, ignoring the gasps and pointing fingers.

Scorpius walked past the cabins, looking for his friends. He passed by a compartment full of fourth year Hufflepuffs, sending him dirty glares. Scorpius ignored them as he heard Rose's shrill voice.

"Where have you been, we thought you got lost." Rose said. "We found an empty compartment."

He saw James and Al fighting as they entered.

"What's up with them?"

"Well see, Al's scared that he's going to end up in Slytherin and James just keeps taunting him about it."

Scorpius wanted to tell her that he too was scared, but he knew that Malfoys never admitted fear. James left saying he was going to go look for his friends. The train ride went rather comfortably, they chatted about things that waited for them in Hogwarts.

"I really hope we're all in Gryffindor." Al said.

"Yeah, but my family has always been in Slytherin." Scorpius said annoyed.

"Well that doesn't really matter, maybe you can break the family tradition. It isn't unheard of."

"Maybe….."

**Hmmm, so which house then?**


	10. Sorting

Scorpius walked nervously along with the other first years, he had never been so nervous in his life. He had been completely startled when the biggest man he had ever seen in his life directed them to the boats. He was shocked when the others were completely at ease with him. Rose had even hugged the giant.

He was terrified that he might end up in Slytherin, he didn't want people to treat him like they did his father. He had read Hermione's book Hogwarts a History thoroughly and he knew everything there is to know about each house. He took a quick glance at Al, he too looked very pale. He was determined to be in Gryffindor like the rest of his family. Rose on the other hand looked rather calm.

"Welcome to Hogwarts." Said Professor Longbottem. " Before we begin the start-of-term banquet you will each be sorted into your house. Your house will be like your family. You will have classes with them, sleep in the same dormitory and spend most of your free time with them. These houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Slytherin. At the end of each year the house with the most points is awarded the House Cup." Professor Longbottom finished by ushering them into the Great Hall. Scorpius was amazed by the size and grandeur of it all. He vaguely realized that Professor Longbottom, was saying something and before he knew it, names were being called out in random order.

"Abott, Sarah"

No sooner had the hideous hat touched her head he screamed out Hufflepuff. Draco watched as she skipping along happily to her table. More names were called out

"Nott, Georgina" After a moments pause the hat decided Ravenclaw.

"Parkinson, Zoyd" a brute looking boy that Scorpius immediately recognized as one of the boys from the shop was called out. The hat barely had to touch his head before he was sorted into Slytherin.

"Potter, Albus" Scorpius watched as his friend shakily sat on the stool. The room had immediately silenced. The hat took a little longer to decide, and seemed to be talking to the boy, "better be Gryffindor." Al's face looked immediately relieved and he walked over to his brother who was cheering loudly.

More names were called out, he watched Rose also run to the Gryffindor table. He hoped he would get in with them, they were the only people he knew. At last his turn arrived. Once again the hall quieted down, but hushed whispers and mumbles could be heard. Scorpius walked up slowly to the stool, remembering his father's words. He loved him no matter what. The hat was placed on his head and he waited anxiously.

_Aaaah another Malfoy eh….yes, yes you certainly ha__ve their qualities. Quite a bit of your father's characteristics. You have a very have a bright mind too mmm… __intelligence, knowledge, and wit.__ Maybe we should put you in Ravenclaw, you would do well there. Your father was supposed to be sorted there, but he begged me to put him in Slytherin. But your not like the others are you? Quite a bit of courage, determination too I see, and ambition. Difficult, very difficult… _

Scorpius was losing his nerve as the hat continued to talk to itself. He could hear the whispers getting louder, why couldn't the hat decide already. He saw Professor Longbottom looking very confused. Maybe he didn't belong here, perhaps he should just go home.

Just put me where I belong already he thought to himself.

_Well alright in that case, _"better be, Slytherin!"

Without quite thinking, he automatically got up and walked to the end of the Slytherin table, there were no cheers, just more whispering and pointed fingers. The hat continued to sort the remaining kids. The last one being Alfred Finnegan, was sorted into Slytherin. He looked equally disappointed, he took his seat next to Scorpius but refused to talk to him. As the feast started Scorpius took a glance at Albus and Rose who were talking happily to all the people around them, Rose saw him looking and smiled widely at him, waving. He waved back but she wasn't looking anymore. He wasn't so hungry anymore.

Rose looked at her friend. She saw him walk boldly to the Slytherin table, his shoulders squared and his head held high. She knew he didn't want to be with them. She really wished that he would be with her and Al, it would have been so cool if they could all be together like back at home. James was talking loudly as usual and Al looked happy. They were all getting a lot of attention. She supposed it was because of who their parents were. She noticed the number of girls staring at James, their eyes fluttering dreamily. She suppressed a snort and introduced herself to a girl sitting next to her. Her name was Emma Flame, a muggle-born.

To say he was shocked to be sorted into Slytherin was an understatement. It was completely unexpected and had his dad really asked to be in Slytherin. He followed the Slytherin's to their dormitories. He heard the prefect, the Zabini girl, saying the password was Gillyweed. They passed through a bare stone wall in the Dungeons. The Slytherin common room was a long, low underground room (probably under the Hogwarts lake, thought Scorpius) with rough stone walls and round greenish lamps hanging from the ceiling. He was shoved aside by a fifth year as they went to their dorms. He entered a room saying First year boys. Three other slytherin boys were already inside. They had each claimed their beds, leaving Scorpius the bed farthest away from them. Scorpius didn't really care, in fact it suited him just fine. He recognized the other boys as being, Parkinson, McKinley and Finnegan. When they saw him enter Parkinson made a disgusting face.

"I don't know what's gotten into that hat putting the likes of you and Finnegan over here. I'm not sure which is worse, the traitor or the half blood here."

Finnegan frowned but continued unpacking.

"Hey, you ass, look at me when I'm talking to you." Parkinson shoved Finnegan so that he tripped slightly. McKinley snorted sitting on his own bed. I felt my face growing hot with anger. Finnegan never asked to be sorted here and neither did I.

"Leave him alone." I said calmly.

Finnegan looked at me confused. Parkinson on the other hand was not amused.

"Listen here Malfoy, you mind your own business or I'll just have to teach you a little lesson."

Scorpius gave the famous Malfoy smirk as if daring the boy to give it his best shot.

A second year boy popped his head into our room. He was rather large and dumb looking. "Hey Parkinson, McKinley lets go already."

The boys left, apparently forgetting that they still had to 'teach him a lesson.' Finnegan ignored him for the rest of the night and went to bed. Scorpius pretended to sleep even when he heard the other two boys walk in laughing rudely and going to bed.

He couldn't sleep no matter how hard he tried. He decided to send his dad a letter.

_Father,_

_How is everything? I hope everything is alright at work? Has the ministry cleared your name yet? Have they found the other attacker?_

_Hogwarts is a wonderful school. I had a run in with the huge man. Rose says his name is Hagrid. Honestly dad he's got to be part giant or something, but he seems nice enough. I love it here so far, it's fantastic. I just got sorted into Slytherin, but its ok, I'm not that upset. I mean the hat puts you in your house for a reason right and both you and mum were in Slytherin and you're the best people I know. Don't worry about me dad, there's nothing here I can't handle. The weird thing is the hat actually couldn't decide where to put me, it spent like 5 minutes just talking to itself. So I asked it to place me where I belong. The hat also said something really interesting. It said you asked to be placed in Slytherin, is that true? Albus told me his dad asked not to be placed in Slytherin. I've been thinking about what you said to me at the train station, and you're right. I'm going to show them all that being a Malfoy is not so bad. I'm going to change the way people view the Malfoy name._

_Take care._

_Love,_

_Scor M_

Scorpius told Elatus to find his Dad at St Mungo's. He knew his dad would busy himself with work now that Scorpius was gone.


	11. Tryouts

Scorpius woke up early from an uneasy sleep, flashes of a cloaked figure invading his mind. He got up quietly and made his way to the Great Hall. He heard running behind him and saw the Finnegan kid.

"Wait up Malfoy! Look I wanted to apologize for ignoring you last night. I was just upset about being sorted into Slytherin and all. Anyways thanks for standing up for me, which was nice of you. I'm Alfred Finnegan, you can call me Alfie." The kid spoke so fast Scorpius was sure he missed something. Nevertheless he stuck out his hand and said. "Scorpius Malfoy, you can call me Scorpio. It was nothing, somebody had to stand up to those oafs, I don't believe in discrimination against blood status." Aflie gave him a bewildered look but shrugged and pulled him to the Great Hall. He found Rose and Albus and walked up to the Gryffindor table.

"Morning Scorp, who is your friend." Al said cheerfully.

"Names Alfie Finnegan. My dad used to be roomies with both your dads."

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure dad mentioned Mr. Finnegan before." Rose said. "How come you're in Slytherin?"

"Dunno, Dad always said I had a sly attitude, maybe that's why…well me and Scorpio are gonna eat breakfast."

"I suppose I'll see you in class?" Scorpius asked hopefully. Rose nodded her head in agreement.

Alfie dragged Scorpius to the Slytherin table and started eating. He told Scorpius about his family and talked about his home in Ireland. Scorpius listened quietly and remarked that his new friend sure did talk a lot. The other Slytherin's sent glares at him, but he just turned a blind eye. Everybody looked up as a fleet of owl flew over the Great Hall. Elatus landed neatly in front of Scorpius dropping a letter in his lap. Scorpius stroked the owl's feathered neck, allowing it to nibble at his breakfast. He noted smugly the jealous look Alfie was giving Elatus, as his owl crash landed onto the table. Rose ran up to Scorpius her face red with barely tamed anger. Scorpius suppressed a laugh at the spilt breakfast all over her robes. She muttered something about killing those stupid Potters.

"What brings you here, my little soaked Weasel?" Scorpius said impishly. Alfie snickered uncontrollably. Obviously Rose was in no mood to be messed with.

"Can it Malfoy, I just need to use Elatus, if that's ok with you. James said he's using Petrew."

"Sure, why not. Just try not to spill anything on him, if that's possible." He said teasing. He placed the bird on Rose's arm. Rose stomped off to her table muttering something about insolent boys.

He opened his father's letter and read the neat and yet barely legible handwriting.

_Scor,_

_I'm glad you see it that way. Slytherin is not that bad of a house despite what others might think. It's the people who can be bad. What people don't realize is that Slytherins are ambitious, loyal and cunning wizards, it's not just about the Dark Arts. _

_Enjoy yourself here at Hogwarts and work hard. We shall see each other again very soon. I just wanted to let you know that considering the circumstances, I am now living in a small apartment in Diagon Alley. It's just better for now, its closer to work. The Manor is no longer under investigation, but I prefer not to go there for now. Mr. Potter was able to clear my name as I'm sure you will see in the Daily Prophet but the other attacker has disappeared. Now don't worry yourself about that.. Don't forget to try out for quidditch._

_Sincerely,_

_DM _

Scorpius smiled, he knew that his father was telling him that he missed him and loved him in his own way. He was glad that his dad had moved out for now. He didn't want him to be alone in that huge place.

Scorpius found that he really enjoyed his classes. He soaked up everything the teachers said excitedly, and practiced using his new wand. He did not get to see Rose and Al as often as he liked but he enjoyed Alfie's company. Alfie had a certain knack of just exploding things, especially in potions. He said he got it from his dad. His professors said that he was quite the intelligent boy and he had a certain natural ability for transfiguration. The idea of changing something into something entirely different fascinated him. The only classes he had with the Slytherins was potions and Herbology. The new potions master always paired him with the muggle-born Emma Flame. She was shy but to the point so they worked well together. Alfie on the other hand was paired with Albus, they were both dreadful at potions.

Unfortunately classes were the only places were he was happy. Outside of his safe haven he was constantly shoved around and insulted. It had barely been a month and he almost always had a black eye. He fought against them, refusing to let the others get the better of him. Therefore, he was always in detention. Some teachers even chose to overlook how mistreated he was. His roommates had taken to locking him out of the room every so often. But he didn't care. What did upset him was, Rose and Albus no longer spoke to him for some reason and James barely acknowledged his existence. It confused him to no end. He had really thought that they were his friends.

He wrote to his father every week, just so that he wouldn't worry. Telling him about how much fun he was having and how everything was just fine. Sometimes he wished he could tell his dad the truth, but he refused to cause him any worry. His father was delighted to hear how well he was doing in school and that was enough for Scorpius.

About two month into school he had just dodged a group of fourth year Gryffindor that had been harassing him when he saw Rose and Albus walking up to him excitedly.

"Scorp, did you hear, we're tied first in the year! You better watch out, I'm going to beat you."

Scorpius frowned at her. He didn't understand, why she was gloating to him. Did she think she was better than him or something just because she was in Gryffindor. Well he would show her.

"What?" said Rose loudly as he continued to glare at her.

"I don't give a rat's ass if you're first or second Rosie." He sneered angrily.

"Hey Scorp what's your problem?" Al said clearly confused.

Scorpius had had enough. They ignore him for nearly a month. They knew how badly he was being treated, couldn't they see it? They come to him just to gloat, to compare who was better.

"I'll tell you what my problem is. People like you." He spoke in such an icy voice that both Gryffindors were taken aback.

As he walked away he heard Al say, "snobby git, I knew he was the one causing all the fights around here, didn't I tell you. Maybe he belongs in Slytherin after all."

Scorpius walked hurriedly away, he was hurt by Al's words. Did they really think he was causing all these problems? Ha, clearly they knew nothing, living in their cocooned sheltered lives. They had no problems. They were loved just because of who their parents were. Whereas he, was constantly bullied everyday. He walked away hurriedly as he spotted the same group of boys. It irritated him to no end. He wasn't accepted by the other houses because his family had been in the same league as Voldemort and yet he wasn't even accepted by his own house as they believed him to be a cowardice blood traitor. The constant pressure to erase the ghosts of his parents' pasts was certainly getting to him.

Everyone was surprised when Albus Potter refused to tryout for the Gryffindor quidditch team. He said it wasn't his thing, and the team already had one Potter, they didn't need another. James was furious with his brother. He simply could not understand his brother's logic. James played keeper for the Gryffindor quidditch team, he was quite good at all the other positions but he loved playing keeper. The other teams rarely got any goals because of James' defensive skills. The beaters were Craig McLaggen a polite sixth year boy and a fourth year boy Derik Bell nephew of the famous chaser for England, Katie Bell. Teddy Lupin who was now in his 7th year played seeker he was also the captain. Meg Elaina a third year played lead chaser, it was common knowledge that James fancied her. The other chasers were now a fourth year their cousin Anna Weasley, George's daughter and a second year John Thomas. James had wanted Al to try out as chaser but had given up hope. Rose had tried out but just wasn't good enough yet much to her dismay.

Scorpius too tried out for the Slytherin team. The team had initially refused to even give him a shot but their Head of house, Professor Alan said that everybody was to be given a chance. Scorpius worked the hardest he had ever done to impress the team. He really wanted to be on the quidditch team, just like his dad. Professor Alan had not anticipated the boy's talent and was forced to allow him on the team. Scorpius had dragged Alfie along as well. Both boys were delighted that they were on the team Scorpius as seeker and Alfie as a reserve chaser. They were confronted by a second year girl who had made it as chaser. She looked at them coldly but then surprised them by sticking out her hand.

"Hi, I'm Marina Stanlake. I just wanted to say that you both played very well today. Congratulations on making it on the team."

For a mere second, Scorpius thought he saw her blushing, but she quickly controlled her face to show no emotion.

"I'm Scorpius Malfoy and this is my friend Alfred Finnegan."

Alfie said nothing, the normally talkative boy who he couldn't get to shut up, simply stared. Marina noticed his odd behavior too and gave a small smile.

"Well I suppose, I'll see you both at breakfast tomorrow."

She left to the changing rooms, striding elegantly across the pitch.

"She's nice." Alfie said, he was clearly completely infatuated by this girl.

Scorpius smirked and rolled his eyes.


	12. Friends?

Scorpius teased Alfie mercilessly about his little crush all the way to the dungeons. He admitted to himself that she was indeed a very striking girl. She was a little bit taller than the boys. Her dark hair was fashioned into a short pixie cut, framing her face beautifully. Her face was rather pale and he noted how soft her hands were. If Scorpius was being truthful, he would have admitted to liking the girl a little as well. But he saw how smitten Alfie was, and decided he wouldn't interfere.

"Alfie, hurry up, I want to owl my dad-"

He stopped talking when he realized that Alfie had run off somewhere, probably to find that girl. He shook his head amused and entered the common room. He saw that most of the team sitting in a corner talking. He recognized them as Marcus Flint Jr. a sixth year chaser and the captain and the beaters, Ian Goyle a third year and none other than Parkinson. He noted the only people missing was Andrea Zabini who played keeper the other a 4th year chaser whom he had forgotten and of course Marina. Flint looked up at Scorpius with an ugly grin.

"Come here, Malfoy."

"No, I think I'm quite happy where I am thank you." He swore silently, he should have never come up here alone. Damn that love sick Alfie.

Parkinson stood up angrily.

"Think you're so clever getting on the team don't you Malfoy, we'll see about that." He got up violently and walked over towards him, only to be stopped by Flint.

"Listen Malfoy, you may be a good seeker, but the minute you make us lose, I will crush you like the maggot you really are. I don't trust a slimy blood traitor like you."

Scorpius scowled at this, they hadn't even played a single game yet and already they hated him.

"I think we should give him a little taste of what's coming to him." Parkinson said cheekily.

To his horror Flint smiled, and told Goyle and Parkinson, to do as they pleased.

"You talk and I'll make sure you'll wish you were never born."

Flint walked away smirking, as Goyle and Parkinson manhandled him out of the common room. Scorpius struggled as hard as he could, but these boys were just way bigger and far stronger than him. He managed to get one arm lose and kicked Goyle in the gut. That was a big mistake, a fist hurtling towards him, before his head connected with the ground with a loud smack.

Late that night, Rose and Al were sneaking out to get a late night snack. They pulled on the invisibility cloak, which Al had stolen from James and crept to the kitchens quietly. Al took out the Marauders map and saw Filch was all the way on the other side of the castle. Then he saw another name.

"Rosie, what do you think Scorpio is doing out of the dungeons?" He whispered.

"Merlin knows, he's always getting himself into loads of trouble. He's probably celebrating or something stupid."

"What, alone? Come on lets go check it out." Albus said curiously.

"Oh, alright…" she grumbled noisily.

The dungeons were rather cold they realized. It was very quiet and dark, so they almost missed the still figure, had it not been for the map.

"Rosie, map says he's in this corridor."

"Scorp...?" she whispered. She got a low moan as a response.

A few feet away from them they saw their friend propped against the wall, with his head slumped down. His nose appeared to be broken and was bleeding profusely. He had a rather large bruise covering his left jaw, and he was cradling his chest protectively.

Rose let out a stifled scream. Both children ran towards him careful not to jostle him and kneeled down.

"Scorpio! Scorp wake up, what on earth happened to you?" Rose said worriedly as Scorpius only let out a soft groan of pain.

"Al we've got to get him to the infirmary. What happened?"

"I think I have an idea…" Al had never been quite so angry in his life as realization dawned upon him.

They took each of his arms and helped him stand. He was clearly too out of it to understand what was going on.

Rose slowly let go of Scorpius and banged on the hospital wing door.

The elderly matron opened the door, clearly still half asleep.

"What is the meaning of this?"

"Madam Naylor, we're so sorry to wake you, but our friend here fell down the stairs and he won't wake up." Al said thinking quickly.

"Alright bring him in and off to bed you go."

"BU-"

"NO. You can visit him all day tomorrow. It's a Sunday anyway."

They walked back to the Fat Lady, suddenly not hungry anymore.

"Al, I think we've made a mistake. They have obviously been bullying him and this whole time I thought he was the one causing all the fights. I feel so awful."

"I know. We've got to make it up to him, Rosie."

They went to their separate rooms, and barely slept, both feeling immensely guilty.

The next morning, Al was roughly woken up by a pale Rose. They quickly made their way to the hospital wing. Madam Naylor sent them to the only occupied bed in the room.

"Scorpio!" Rose made a beeline towards his bed. He was sitting up, his nose had apparently been fixed and the bruise on his jaw already fading to a pale yellow. He appeared to be reading a book and refused to look up. "How are you feeling?"

"What do you guys want?" He said clearly, his voice betraying no emotion.

"I'm not going to beat about the bush Scorp. Rosie and I found you yesterday outside of the dungeons. We know you've been having a hard time. Why didn't you just come and tell us. All of this could have been avoided."

Scorpius looked up at them angrily.

"What difference would it have made? You've both been ignoring me for ages. I didn't have to tell you did I. It was obvious. Any fool can see that the Malfoys are not welcome here. You just chose to believe it was my fault."

"You're right. I hate to say it, but you're absolutely right. We're sorry." Rose said guiltily her face creased with obvious concern. He looked at Al who nodded his head in agreement.

Scorpius raised one eyebrow. "Just give me that chocolate frog in your pocket and we'll call it even.' Scorpius drawled.

Al smiled he knew this was his way of saying it was in the past now.

They spent the next 15 minutes catching up about all they had missed. They were both amazed that he had made it on the quidditch team. He shrugged it off as if it was nothing.

He was allowed to go by lunch time and met up with Alfie who was sitting with Marina.

"Scorp, where have you been? You weren't in your bed this morning and Parkinson was acting really weird." He briefly told them what had happened although he left out a few details. They were horrified, Marina's face scowled in disapproval. She glanced over to the boys that had beat up Scorpius and smiled wickedly.

"I've got a plan."

Later that day, two large boys were found suspended upside down, their heads slowly descending into the lake. The giant squid licked their heads repeatedly. The teachers were furious but the boys simply could not remember how they had gotten there. Alfie smiled cheekily during a brief quidditch practice the next day, as they saw how jittery Goyle and Parkinson were.

In St. Mungo's Draco was working in his small office, filling out some medical reports. With Scorpius gone he didn't have much else to do so he occupied his time with work. He considered visiting the Potters and Weasleys but that would have to wait. The only person who had come to see him was Blaise Zabini an old school friend. They had always gotten on well enough. He briefly remarked that if Daphne had been alive they might have become brother-in-laws considering Blaise and Daphne had been dating during the war. However, he had moved on quickly after her untimely death and married, to his families surprise a Hufflepuff girl called Susan Bones in their year. However, it had not surprised Draco greatly. He had never understood why Blaise was in Slytherin. He had barely talked to anyone in Slytherin apart from Draco himself and a few others. If it weren't for Blaise he probably would have never met Astoria. He had come with Blaise to Daphne's funeral and he had found Astoria crying during the reception and had comforted her. They met again a week later when he had to go to the ministry. A few dates later, one thing led to another and they were a happy couple. Blaise had come to offer his condolences a week after his name had been cleared. He was adamant about offering his help in anyway possible. They occasionally went out to the pub and he visited their home whenever he could.

One evening Blaise and Susan walked into Draco's office to get him to come out. Susan had insisted it wasn't good for the man to be so consumed by his work. So they had decided to take him out for drinks. They were very surprised when they found the office completely empty. The normally neat and organized room was completely turned over, parchment was flying everywhere and the desk was cut clean in half. Susan gasped and put her hand to her mouth when she saw what could only be blood dripping from the window. Blaise had run to call the authorities upon seeing the damage.

**Review please :). Any ideas where I should go with this...?**


	13. Missing

Aurors soon filled the scene, Susan was taken out of the room as she was in shock. Harry and Ron walked over to question the tall Slytherin.

"Blaise Zabini right? What relation do you have to Draco Malfoy?" Ron asked, trying hard to be professional.

"He's a good friend of mine. We were roommates back in Hogwarts."

"Huh…I don't remember seeing the two of you together much." Harry stated curiously.

"Well what can I say? Draco had more of an image to uphold, he liked the limelight. I personally didn't enjoy it much, but that didn't mean we weren't friends. If I didn't know any better, I'd say I was the only person in his circle that he treated as an equal." Blaise said matter-of-factly.

"I see could you tell us exactly what happened."

"My wife and I were here to invite him to our manor as we usually do and this is how we found the room."

"Alright, thank you for calling us. We will let you know if we need you." Harry said.

As soon as Zabini was out of ear shot. Ron mumbled, "do you think it was Lucius?"

"No doubt, come on we've got work to do."

Scorpius had been unable to sleep once again. He had not gotten a response from his dad in quite a while. He knew his dad was a busy man, but it still upset him that his dad did not respond to him about becoming seeker. He sighed, punching his pillow severely annoyed. Finally he gave up on sleep and got up and left the room, snickering as he saw Alfie drooling slightly. He found Elatus perched on an arm chair in the common room. He had the daily prophet in his beak, and a letter tied to his leg. The magnificent bird flew to Scorpius and delivered its goods. Scorpius patted the owl affectionately as it flew away. He read the news paper first and the title nearly caused him to faint from pure shock. He made a beeline to the Gryffindor towers.

"Let me in, please! I just need to talk to my friends. I'm not trying to cause any trouble."

The fat lady looked down at him suspiciously, "first of all you are a Slytherin and therefore I cannot let you in, second it is too early in the morning, no one is even awake yet and….."

Scorpius interrupted her, his eyes filling with tears of frustration, "could you please just bring Rose Weasley or Albus Potter out here. I just – I really need to talk to someone."

The fat lady stared at him giving him a quizzical look, and then left her portrait. Scorpius was ready to give up, just when the portrait whole opened revealing a tousled Al. His hair flying everywhere and Rose close behind, her eyes drooping sleepily.

"Scorp, what's going on, can't this wait till later. It's 5 in the morning." Al said yawning. Rose ever the observant one saw that Scorpius was near hysterics. She shoved Al aside and grabbed Scorpius by the arms.

"What's the matter? Scorp what's happened?"

Scorpius was too upset to speak, he wordlessly handed them the paper, which they read together.

"Oh, Scorpius!" Rose hugged him tightly. Al hugged his friend to. He didn't understand why this kid just couldn't get a break. They huddled near the fireplace of the Gryffindor tower talking quietly.

"How long has he been missing Scorp."

"I-I don't actually know, I mean I only just read the paper a few minutes before you did. I thought it was over. I mean nothings happened since mum…" He trailed of refusing to meet them in the eye.

"Scorpio, don't worry. I'm sure our parents are looking for him right now. Mr. Malfoy will be back before you know it." Al assured.

Remembering the letter Scorpius pulled it out of his pajama pocket, but he found his vision was too blurry from the tears he was attempting to keep from flowing so he handed it to Rose. She opened it meticulously and began reading out loud.

_Dear Scorpio,_

_I wish that you didn't have to hear this, but as you have probably already read from the Daily Prophet your father has been missing for a little over a week now. He was attacked in his office at St. Mungo's much like at the Manor. Your god father Mr. Zabini was the one to discover he was missing. I don't want you to worry too much. As far as the Aurors can tell, they detect no dark spells, so we have high hopes that Draco is indeed alive. My dear, do not be alarmed. Harry and Ron are working tirelessly searching for clues along with the other Aurors. Ginny and I are using whatever means the ministry has to help with the search. Harry and I will keep you updated with everything that happens. Fear not Scorpio, we will find him. Please be careful._

_Much love,_

_Hermione Granger-Weasley_

Albus smiled encouragingly, "see even Aunt Hermione said it. They'll find him, don't worry too much alright."

Scorpius nodded desperately trying to believe Al's naivety, even though he could feel it in his heart that nothing was alright.

By the next day everybody had heard the news. The pointing and whispering increased ten-fold, but at least nobody bothered him. Alfie tried to cheer up his friend and even went as far as purposely blowing up his cauldron in potions. The teachers were more sympathetic towards him, and McGonagall even gave him a small smile at breakfast.

Scorpius had never been more worried in his entire life. He didn't know what he would do if they didn't find his father. As the days went by he slept less and less everyday and barely focused in class, knowing that the longer his father was missing the less chance they ever had of finding him. His nightmares had become regular now, leaving him shaking and drenched in sweat. The only thing he looked forward to, were the letters from Mrs. Weasley, keeping him updated. However, soon after the letters ceased arriving and Scorpius couldn't help but think the worst.

Rose and Albus did their best to help their friend. They sat with him and Alfie at the Slytherin table so that he wouldn't get into any fights. They tried distracting him with school and quidditch but nothing really worked. Where was his dad…?


	14. Time

Draco's eyes fluttered open and he groaned loudly. He was lying down in what he could only assume was an abandoned shed. The cold damp floor was soaking the back of his shirt, causing him to feel cold. His healer robes had been disposed of, leaving him with just his white t-shirt and pants. He looked around groggily but it was too dark to make out anything. Confused he racked his brains trying to remember how he had gotten himself into this situation, but found that his memory was quite fuzzy. As he slowly got up, stars exploded in front of his eyes, he shakily touched the back of his head to feel a sticky wet substance. He swore under his breath. He took in his surroundings and the only exit he could find was completely bolted and he didn't have his wand. Seeing no other possible way out he limply leaned against the wall, trying not to fall asleep. Suddenly a loud crack was heard and a towering figure stood in front of him his wand pointed at his face. Before Draco could even blink the man screamed a curse and Draco knew nothing but pain as his body twitched and shook.

Scorpius was barely listening to Alfie and Marina bickering in the common room. The three had taken a seat near the fireplace and were currently trying to work on their charms essay and potions assignments respectively. Scorpius' mind was wondering and he was not really concentrating on what he was writing.

"Hey Malfoy." He looked up to see a tall boy standing over him handing him a letter. "S'pose to be for you."

"Thanks." He ripped it open eagerly not noticing how the other two had stopped talking and where simply staring at him.

_Dear Scorpius,_

_I apologize for not having written sooner. We have been very busy and not much has changed. However, we have completed questioning Draco's assistant healers and his neighbours. So far we have not got much information but we are persistent and the investigation is still going strong. We have evidence confirming that the attack was done by the same attacker that got away, during the incident at Malfoy Manor._

_On other matters, the Christmas holidays will be starting soon and you are welcome to stay with us at the Weasley home along with Rose, Albus and James. However, you should know that Mr. Zabini has also offered his house if you would like. Mr. and Mrs. Greengrass are willing to have you over as well, but they have moved to Paris. The choice is yours Scorpius we would all be happy to have you._

_Sincerely,_

_Harry Potter_

"Scorp, what's it say, anything new?" Alfie asked hesitantly.

"No, nothing. Well anyway, I'm going to bed, I can't think of anything else to write."

"Alright, goodnight then." Marina said softly.

They watched him worriedly as he headed to his room.

Scorpius sat on his bed and scribbled down a reply. He didn't want to go to Paris, incase something came up in the investigation and his grandparents were really sad nowadays so he didn't think he wanted to be around that. Uncle Blaize was nice but, he knew he would get bored easily since there would be nothing to do. They had two children but both were much older than him.

_I'd like to stay at the Weasleys. Thank you._

_Scorpius Malfoy_

As he lay in bed, he could feel his anxiety quickly building up. There was no way he was going to lose any more family. Not if he could stop it. He angrily wiped the few tears that had managed to slip past as he heard the door opening.

"Hey, it's just me. Are you alone?" Marina whispered quietly.

"Yeah. I was going to sleep."

"Well, I just thought you needed to talk." He felt the bed dip slightly as she sat down.

"I'm fine, just worried you know." he said dismissively.

"Look, I'm not going to tell you that they will find him, because I don't know that. Just please don't shut yourself off." she persisted.

"Marina, it's been months and they don't even have a lead. I don't know what to do, if they don't find him soon, I'm just going to have to do it myself!"

"Have you lost your mind?" Alfie screeched from the door where he had been eavesdropping. "Whoever took your dad is after you as well!"

"Alfie he's my dad, I've got to do something!"

"Are you completely dense…?"

"Shut up Alfie! Look Scorp, I understand where you are coming from, really I do, but you can't just go off on your own. Alfie's right it's far too dangerous for you. Just give it a little more time."

"He doesn't have anymore time. He's probably dead for all we know!" Scorpious screamed losing his calm. He angry got out of his bed and made for the door ready to storm out until Marina grabbed his arm. Her eyes were full of tears.

"Scorp don't say that."

"Why not? You know everyone is thinking it. Don't tell me you haven't thought that at least once. Now let go of me."

"Fine just promise me, you won't do anything stupid. Please, just give it a little more time. Please? "

Scorpious nodded his head and ripped his arm away, leaving his friends staring after him.


	15. Found

"Honestly Harry, I've questioned just about everybody Malfoy works with and nothing, zilch. I tried tracing his wand but it hasn't been used since the day of his bloody disappearance. I can't trace Lucius' wand since his was snapped when he was sent to Azkaban, he must be using another one. Harry it's like he's just vanished of the face of the earth." Ron said exasperatedly.

"I know Ron, but we've got to keep looking, I promised Scorpius that we would find his father." Harry muttered frustrated.

"Look Harry, I want to find him just as much as you do. But we've got to face the facts. Malfoy has been missing for well over a month now. If we don't find him soon…"

"We'll find him." Harry said firmly returning to his paper work.

Ron slumped tiredly unto his desk chair. Draco's disappearance was affecting them all. They had all been getting a long during the summer and any bad blood from the past was quickly forgotten. Ron really did want to find Draco, but he knew that chances of finding him alive were growing slimmer.

"I'm going to go check if Ginny has…" Ron was interrupted by a swoosh of papers flying. Both he and Harry jumped up with their wands raised, the years of auror training making them alert and ready for anything. They lowered their wands in shock as they recognized the voice.

Not long before the Christmas holidays Scorpius was in Herbology struggling to untangle the mandrake that had somehow latched itself onto Alfie's arm.

"Get this hideous thing off me!" Alfie cried out in pain.

"I'm trying you fool, will you stop moving."

"It's biting me! Get it off!"

Professor Longbottom walked over to them and was trying to calm the screaming mandrake. Once he had calmed the class, he glared at the two slytherins, but before he could scold them the Head Boy a Ravenclaw entered.

"Sorry to interrupt Professor, but Scorpius Malfoy is requested in Professor McGonagall's office, right now."

Scorpius looked up at the mention of his name and hurriedly went to follow the head boy. Rose looked questioningly at him but he shrugged and excused himself from the class. He walked slowly not sure what exactly he had done this time. As he said the password and climbed the staircase he heard a woman's voice talking to Professor McGonagall.

"Mr. and Mrs. Weasley." Scorpius acknowledged. He was confused however, when they did not respond.

"Scorpius dear, sit down please." Hermione said softly.

"What happened?" he was now quite alarmed. He refused to sit, he didn't really think he could move anyway. It had been a month since his father was reported missing and nearly a week since the last update. For Hermione to be here personally it could only mean the worst. Hermione and Ron walked over to him hand in hand, and Ron kneeled to his level.

"Scorpio, we found your dad, he was found in a deserted place near Edinburgh. A Death Eater had him trapped in an abandoned cellar."

"He's not d-dead is he?" Scorpius whispered his lip trembling.

"No no no!" Hermione said. "But he is very badly hurt, you have to remember Scorpio, Draco has been missing a very long time. Who knows what the Death Eater did to him in all that time." They were careful not to mention the Death Eater being Lucius.

"I want to see him, now." Scorpius demanded.

"Alright we'll take you there now." Ron said surprising him.

"We'll let you go early as holidays start in two days time anyway. Your trunk will be delivered to Mr. Weasley's home soon. Good luck Mr. Malfoy.' McGonagall said kindly. They used a Portkey that Professor McGonagall had set up and quickly arrived at St. Mugo's entrance. Ron helped Scorpius stand up, after having fallen upon landing.

"Harry and Ginny are with him now ok. Scorpio you must understand, he is very weak right now, he's been in a comatose state since they found him and their not sure when he will wake up." Hermione just wanted the boy to be ready for what he was about to see. But Scorpius was done listening. The normally reserved, soft- spoken boy was already running towards the hospital, trying to find his dad's room. He looked around wildly until he saw, Mrs. Potter and Blaize standing outside what could only be his father's hospital room. He ignored her and ran in.

There lying on the bed was an extremely pale Draco Malfoy. Scorpius gaped walking very slowly towards the side of the bed. He carefully held his fathers cold, limp hand. "Dad, please wake up. You can't leave me alone. You promised."

Scorpius was devastated. His proud father looked so lifeless. You could barely detect his uneven breathing. His face was covered in gashes and bruises and Scorpius could only guess that there were more bandages under his shirt. His father's well toned body was now thin and frail. He looked so vulnerable, almost pitiful.

Outside the room, Harry soon met his wife and best friends. Hermione was hugging Ron and had tears running down her face. Ginny was not far of from crying as well. Blaize was staring at the hospital door in a stony silence. Harry stared at Ron anxiously.

"He's here, Harry." Ron said sadly.

Harry nodded and quietly entered the room. The boy was sitting next to his father's bed holding his hand. He had his head bowed, and his mouth was moving slowly as if in prayer.

"Scorpio?"

He looked up startled unaware that anybody else was in the room. Harry was surprised at the boys face. There were no sign of tears on the boys face. If not for his eyes, Harry would have never suspected this boy was feeling anything. His eyes were that of a child's that had seen too much pain and misery. A child that was forced to grow up much too fast. There was a flame behind his eyes fueled with anger and hatred.

"What's going to happen?" he asked calmly.

"We are all going to stay at Ron's house over the holidays and-"

"That's not what I meant Mr. Potter. I'm not leaving him here alone."

"Scorpio, you can visit him everyday, I swear. I'll take you myself. But there's nothing you can do for him now. The healers are working day and night to help him."

"I doubt that. He's a Malfoy. They wouldn't really care if he died today. It doesn't matter that he's one of the best Healers this place has ever had. It doesn't matter that he has done nothing wrong since the war. It doesn't matter how hard he's worked to prove he's changed. It doesn't matter to them that he's the best father anyone could ask for. They don't care, none of them." Scorpius fumed as the stress of the last month was finally catching up with him.

Harry was taken aback at the harshness of the boys words.

"That's not true…"

The others had entered upon hearing Scorpius yelling.

"Don't lie to me Mr. Potter. I'm sick of all the lies. Just tell me this. Who did this to him? I need to know, who is trying to hurt my family. Who killed my mother?"

Harry looked helplessly at Ginny.

'Please just tell me…." His voice softened as he looked at his father's prone form once more.

"Lucius Malfoy, your grandfather." Blaize said dejectedly, he looked at the boy trying to make him understand. If Scorpius was shocked, he barely showed it. One could clearly see that this boy was past caring.

"You don't have to worry anymore, they've put him back in Azkaban and he will have a trial in 2 weeks deciding on whether or not to give him the dementors kiss." Ron continued. Scorpius shuddered involuntarily. He was about to say something, but changed his mind when he felt Blaize hold his shoulder gently.

"Ok, let's go." Scorpius sighed tiredly with a voice aged by hardship. He squeezed his fathers hand and allowed the adults to take him away.

The other kids arrived two days later. They filled the house with noise, and mess. Hermione had tried to make Scorpius talk, but he acted as if everything was fine. She supposed that that was his way of coping. Rose and Al didn't really seem to notice any change in his behavior. Sure they were worried and they showed him that he had their support, but really they were just kids that couldn't begin to imagine how he was feeling. He still played with the others and ate in silence. But she could tell that the boy was splitting at the seams, he didn't smile, and he only spoke when spoken to. He just stood in the sidelines watching. She caught him staring at Harry and James talking once with a sad look in his eye, but as soon as he saw her watching he carried on with a cold mask of indifference. The only thing he looked forward to was when one of them took him to visit Draco. Otherwise, he had resorted into a quite rather, passive boy.

Two days before Christmas Harry had a very hard time sleeping. He walked down the stairs and stopped quickly brandishing his wand when he heard a sudden noise. He crept quietly towards the source of the noise behind the couch. His senses on the alert. However, he slowly lowered his wand. His heart broke at what he saw. Scorpius was on the floor his back to the couch. He was sitting with his knees tucked into his chest and he had his head lowered, his shoulders were shaking as sobs wracked his body. He sat down cross legged in front of the boy and awkwardly placed his hand on the boy's small back. The shaking ceased immediately. He looked up slowly at Harry and tears continued to flow down his face.

"I'm s-sorry, I-I just couldn't sleep a-and…." Scorpius broke off looking ashamed. He was looking down at his family waving in his locket. "It's ok to cry Scorpius, I won't tell anyone."

Scorpious forcefully wiped his tears away.

"She's beautiful by the way." Harry quietly remarked. Scorpius said nothing as he continued to stare at the picture in his hand. They sat like that in a comfortable silence for a few minutes. There was no point in saying anything. What could you say to a boy who had lost his mother, had a father in critical condition and a grandfather who was trying to kill him? This boy was very much alone. Harry sat thinking to himself, what he could say to the boy, but he realized that he had fallen asleep, his head drooping down to his chest as his breathing evened out. He sighed and placed the boy on the couch, covering him with an afghan. He picked up the fallen locket and tucked it into the boy's hand. He carefully wiped Scorpius' tears and sat down on the couch for the remainder of the night.


	16. Turn in events

Christmas day was like every other. Both families went to visit the burrow. Scorpius was amazed to see how large the Weasley family was. He recognized quite a few of the kids from Hogwarts. As far as he could tell nearly all the kids were in Gryffindor. The minute Grandma Weasley had seen him she pulled him into a surprisingly bone crushing hug for an old woman. She insisted on feeding him saying he was skin and bone. She then reprimanded her son accusing him of not feeding his kids.

"Mum, I swear all the kids are well fed. Honestly, even if they were huge you would still think they were too skinny."

That comment had earned him a lecture. Scorpius looked at him apologetically trying not to laugh at the grown man been yelled at by his mother. They all exchanged presents. Rose had attempted to knit a scarf for each person. Al and James had bought a handful of candy bars for everyone. Scorpius had bought Rose a book of short novels. He gave Al and James each a poster of their favorite quidditch team. James had given his dad a book from his Uncle George's shop that bit anyone that tried to open it. He was currently being scolded by his mother. Scorpius sent Elatus with presents to Mr. Zabini's, Alfie's and Marina's homes the previous day. Scorpius had also gotten his dad a small leather bound book, full of knowledgeable information about remedies and potions. He knew his dad would like it. He still planned on giving it to him, it didn't matter that he wasn't awake.

Five days later, all the kids were practicing quidditch outside the burrow. They now had a full team, since all the kids were playing and Charlie Weasley had come back from Romania with his twins, Kayla and Aaron, they were about 2 years older than James. They were well into the match, Scorpius playing seeker was circling the meadow lazily when he spotted Mrs. Potter calling him to come down.

"What now?" James grumbled. Scorpius shrugged and landed his broom carefully, he distantly heard James nagging Rose to play seeker now so that they could continue.

Scorpius thought nothing of it and slowly entered the kitchen. Mrs. Weasley squealed when she saw him enter. She rushed towards him and pulled hum hug. He saw the other three positively beaming at him.

"Scorpio! He's awake, Draco's awake." She said.

He looked at her warily, as if not sure what she meant.

"He's awake Scorp, your dad's going to be just fine." Harry said, knowing the kid needed to process the information.

Scorpius' face broke into a wide smile, "can I go see him, please."

Ron nodded his head and led him out, Harry following.

"We'll meet you all there soon. I just need to owl Blaize." Ginny shouted out the door.

Ron held Scorpius' hand and they apparated to St Mungo's.

Draco woke up slowly. He could tell that he was no longer in the murky shed. It was too bright and he was lying on something soft. Someone in the room gasped and called out. He couldn't quite make out what they were saying, but a moment later he sensed another presence in the room.

"Mr. Malfoy, everything's fine. I'm Healer Cameron and you are in St Mungo's, try responding if you can hear me." Boomed a feminine voice.

Draco opened his eyes and blinked a few times.

"Stop yelling, I can hear you just fine." He said hoarsely, his voice cracking from lack of use. The woman laughed airily.

"Do you have any family I can contact?"

"My son, Scorpius Malfoy, he's…" he broke of into a coughing fit.

"Aaaah yes, the boy whose been here everyday, he's currently staying with the Weasley's. I will contact them shortly, you just rest now. Your body has been through a lot."

Draco was about to object, but he could feel his eyes drooping.

Scorpius ran to his father's room, he could hear a rough voice yelling.

"I don't care if this is protocol! I refuse to eat this disgusting thing. This is not food!"

"Good old Malfoy." Ron muttered.

Scorpius ran into the room. Draco was about to let the small nurse know exactly what he thought of her stupid soup, when he saw a flash of blond tackle him to his pillow.

"Dad, you're awake. I was so scared that they would never find you and that you weren't going to make it. I didn't give up though, I knew it was just a matter if time, I'm so glad your awake." Scorpius rambled out of breath.

"Me too." He allowed Scorpius to sit on the bed properly and listened as his son talked blissfully. He saw Ron and Harry standing outside nervously and beckoned them to come in.

"Hey Weasley, Potter. Don't just stand outside as if you're lost, get in here. I won't bite" He drawled.

"Good to see you back to your old self, Malfoy." Said Ron with no spite in his voice.

Draco gave a small genuine laugh. They chatted quietly and told him about what he had missed so far. Scorpius excitedly gave Draco the book, to which he kept on his bedside, promising to read it.

"Hey Scor, why don't you see if you can go find a nurse to give me some real food?" Draco said suddenly. Scopius jumped off the bed and ran off to demand his father be cared for. Draco looked at the men in front of him seriously.

"Did you catch him?"

"Yeah, Lucius is back in Azkaban."

"You'd been missing for weeks and there were no clues at all. We were stumped, but then we got your Patronas call, when you managed to stunned him, and we were able to find you."

"See we put a tracing spell on your wand after the attack at the Manor."

Draco nodded. His father had been performing one of his torturous spells, when Draco noticed his own wand sticking out of his father's robes. He still wasn't quite sure how he had managed, but he was somehow able to distract Lucius long enough to drag his week body towards the Death Eater, disarm him and then stun him. He was lucky that the Aurors found him when they did. He had blacked out soon after and would have been completely defenseless if Lucius had woken once more. He knew it was Lucius' threats that had provoked the unexpected spurge of strength. Lucius had been threatening to kill Scorpius and Narcissa.

Soon the hospital room was flooded with people, Draco never realized all these people cared about him. After Scorpius and the others left in the evening, promising to be back early morning the next day, he thought about his mother. He felt bad for her, she had never been much of a mother but at least she tried to care unlike Lucius. She had never wanted that life for him. He had visited her a few times during work, he tried telling her about his life and his work, and sometimes he could swear he saw her smile, but otherwise, she was usually found looking out the window of her hospital room, with a sullen look on her face. She had what they called in the muggle world, severe clinical depression. She could be perfectly normal but at times her actions scared even him. Scorpius had only met her a few times but she always seemed to come alive when she saw him. He made a mental note to bring Scorpius more often.

He slowly got out of bed, pulling a crutch towards him and limped quietly to the Mental Illness department. The hospital was rather quiet now and most of the patients seemed to be asleep. He stepped into her room and found her sleeping peacefully on a couch placed near the window. In sleep, she looked almost happy, normal but he knew she was far from it, he kissed her on the head and left. He was about to go back to his room, when he saw a sign saying Longbottom. He entered the room and saw a tall man lying down with his eyes wide open and moving around, the man seemed to be humming some dreadful tune. Draco gaped at how much the man looked like his former classmate. He bowed his head in shame as he remembered how horribly he had treated him as a boy. He had heard a few years ago that Mrs. Longbottom had passed away.

**hey i know i havent updated in while, but i was pretty busy with school and work. I think the next chapter will be the last and I might start another story. Thanks for the reviews and follows :)**


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